The PCNV May 2015 Newsletter is now available with news of the successful first regional meeting in Geelong and upcoming presentations by Rachel Kohn and David Tacey. Click here to download the newsletter [422KB; PDF]

A Progressive Christian Voice (Australia) is a group of Christians who wish to contribute to public debate by promoting a generous and future-focused understanding of the Christian faith. Their website URL is: http://www.progressivechristians.org.au/

A panel presentation to a meeting of the Progressive Christian Network of Victoria on 22 February 2015

THE TOPIC

The core understandings of traditional Christianity were developed within a worldview dramatically different from informed contemporary worldviews. Is it possible to be Christian today?

What could a positive and passionate contemporary Christianity look like?

1. Evolution has changed our understanding of humans.

What could a Christian understanding of human life be in the 21st century?

Speaker: DAVID MERRITT

2. Biblical writings were regarded by many of our ancestors in the faith and some

commentators today as the divinely inspired Word of God and an exclusive guide to all truth. Contemporary studies and human experience have shown that there is a great diversity of ethical and theological assumptions among the Biblical authors reflecting the knowledge and context of these ancient writers.

How could a meaningful understanding and experience of the Bible enrich our Christian life and practice in the 21st century?

Speaker: CHRIS PAGE

3. In the creeds of the early Christian centuries Jesus is depicted as a divine figure securing salvation through his sacrificial death. More recent biblical and historical studies have shown the varied understandings of Jesus in the first centuries of Christianity.

The 2015 Sofia Conference will take place at Coolangatta, Queensland on the weekend of 22 to 24 May. The Conference theme will be "Religion in Education: Children, Ethics, Faith and Meaning." The conference brochure notes:

In this conference, participants will reflect on some of the changes in the religious and educational fabric, and the political, social and religious issues arising from them. Sessions will deal with: the contested place of religion in Australian politics and education; the increasingly diverse nature of the Australian population; the need for compulsory courses in religion and ethics; the control and funding of the various school sectors; and the national chaplaincy program.